http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/09/14-1
Kabul Attacks ‘Not a Big Deal’ Says US Ambassador
Ryan Crocker says attacks were a statement of militants’ weakness, after security forces kill last insurgents
The American ambassador to Afghanistan has described a 20-hour assault on the heart of Kabul’s diplomatic and military quarter as “not a very big deal”, after security forces finally killed the last of a small team of insurgents that had paralysed the city.
Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, said the Kabul attacks illustrated the good work done by Afghan security. (Photograph: Rafiq Maqbool / Pool/EPA) About six Taliban fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons took over a half-completed building on Tuesday, from where they rained down fire on the nearby US embassy and Nato compounds. Meanwhile, suicide bombers targeted police buildings in other parts of the city.
Afghan security forces backed by Nato and Afghan attack helicopters were forced to fight floor by floor before the last insurgent was killed on Wednesday, putting an end to the longest sustained attack in the capital since the US-led invasion in 2001. At least nine Afghans, including four police officers were killed, and 23 people including civilians were wounded.
The city’s streets were far quieter than normal: local staff of non-governmental agencies were told to come in late and many expatriate employees were locked down in their well-defended compounds. Afghans were again left questioning how such a complex attack could take place under the noses of international troops and their Afghan counterparts, who are due to take over security responsibilities in 2014.
The US ambassador, Ryan Crocker, said the attack needed to be put into perspective. “These were five guys that rumbled into town with RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] under their car seats,” he said.
“They got into a building and did some harassment fire on us and Isaf. This really is not a very big deal, a hard day for the embassy and my staff, who behaved with enormous courage and dedication, but half a dozen RPG rounds from 800 metres away – that isn’t Tet, that’s harassment,” he said in reference to the Tet offensive in Vietnam.
“If that’s the best they can do, I think it’s actually a statement of their weakness and more importantly since Kabul is in the hands of Afghan security it’s a real credit to the Afghan national security forces.”
Crocker said six or seven RPGs landed inside the compound. Isaf reported that six of its personnel were wounded.
The ambassador blamed the attack on the Haqqani network, a terrorist organisation based in Pakistan that has long been accused of receiving support from the Inter Services Intelligence agency. The group has also been blamed for this week’s truck bomb outside an isolated US base that wounded 77 soldiers.
The Haqqani network has been responsible for Kabul’s most spectacular and deadly attacks including last month’s assault on the British Council, the bombing of the Indian Embassy and a Mumbai-style attack in the city’s central business district.
“It’s tough when you’re trying to fight an insurgency that has a lot of support outside the national borders,” Crocker said. “And the information available to us is that these attackers, like those who carried out the bombing in Wardak, are part of the Haqqani network, they enjoy safe haven in [the Pakistani region of] Northern Waziristan.
The Isaf commander general, John Allen, praised the Afghan security forces. “The insurgency has again failed,” he said of the attack.
But for ordinary Afghans there was anger at the security forces’ inability to prevent the attack. Hundreds of people gathered in Abdul Haq Square for a glimpse of the bullet-ridden bodies of the six attackers being brought out of the building after it was finally cleared.
“For Afghans, this is a strong attack and very sad for us,” said Malek Tose. “Afghans are dying but for America it is nothing because they are fighting all over the world,” he said.
Mohammad Bashir Suleiman Khil, a shopkeeper, said people were increasingly scared, even in Kabul, considered to be the most secure city in the country. “Every 10 days there are attacks in Kabul. Afghanistan will not be quiet again. There is no work, there is no business. People are not coming out of their homes today. We don’t have any hope here.”
The bodies of four insurgents lay on a concrete floor strewn with bullet casings. One had a bullet wound between his eyes. Crime scene investigators took the fingerprints of the dead and when they picked up a body to place it on a stretcher, a live grenade was found underneath him.
At least one of the attackers had held out nearly 20 hours inside the building before he was eventually overcome by police commandos using stun grenades. The attackers appeared to have used metal barrels to climb floors inside the building to avoid the external and exposed stairwells.
Please vote out Obama in 2012. We can’t afford four more years of Obama.
Yesterday Romney came to speak to Sun Lake Republicans. There was a good turn out, and people here really liked him. I hope other Republican candidates will come and speak to us. We are a large community of active Republicans. If the other candidates don’t come and talk to us in person, Romney will win AZ because he took the time to visit even the small communities.
I know Progressives won’t understand this, but Americans in both parties and of all political views are sick and tired of the lies, corruption and games played by our political leaders. We want truth. WE KNOW WE ARE BEING LIED TO.
What bothers me about Obama and his Administration is their lies, and total disregard for the lives of American soldiers that are being lost in Obama’s war. It is now Obama’s WAR, that was another lie he told, when he said he would end the WARS. Not only did he not end the WARS, he added Libya. Then to publically come out and say that the attacks didn’t mean anything is really a stab in the back of our brave men and women who have the courage to fight for this country. They are the best and brightest of our nation, and our President and his Administration spit on them.
We have a first lady who hates this nation and her flag. At the 9/11 ceremony there is a video where she is seen being disrespectful toward the flag and to the many people who died that day when this nation was attacked by radical Muslims. Obama’s reaction of smiling and agreeing with her is disgraceful. If he hates this country so much, he should go and live in Kenya. He has no respect for the flag, for the brave men and women who died and who will continue to die for this nation. Obama is commander of Cheif, and for him to stand by and allow their memory to be disrespect their service to him, the commander of chief. So the American flag and the lost of lives in this latest attacks don’t mean anything to him.
There is such a large disconnect between the people and the government. Obama if he had any real love for this country would step down and resign. Looks like he is guilty of crimes that make Nixon’s crimes look like child’s play. Do we have a Congress who has the courage to stand for truth and justice? Will they find the courage and backbone to do what has to be done in showing the country and the world that it doesn’t matter who you are, if you break the Laws you will be punished, even if you are President. Congress is corrupted too, so they I believe will cover up his crimes, because they don’t want their own crimes exposed. So the long line of having dishonest thugs who break the Laws will continue to go unchecked.
A government like a man must earn the trust and respect of the people. We the people have to distrust our government with all their lies, corruption, and their total disrespect for our Laws. If you can’t trust someone, you can’t respect them. If you can’t trust or respect your leader, you can’t follow him or obey them. Why do you think so many people put Obama and our government on ignore? Because they have violated our trust and the trust of the troops who have been put in harm’s way because of orders Obama gives them. He is a liar. I don’t think he could tell the truth if his life depended on it. He lacks moral character and doesn’t care about the people of this nation that he swore to serve on the Bible. If I ever was in a room with him, I would back away and not shake his hand. If someone forced me to shake his hand, I would tell him what I think of him as I shock his hand. He might not like what I have to say, but I would say it, if forced in a situation where I had to be in his company. I would tell him, that I think he is a terrible President and why. He needs to hear the truth of why so many Americans no longer trust him and have put him on ignore.
He doesn’t represent us. He may be head of the government but the government and the people have become two different groups. We the people support and stand with Israel, our government under Obama threw Israel under the bus, and support the radical Islamist terrorist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. They support the people who want to destroy Israel and the United States off the face of the earth. Who kill people just because they are Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and moderate Muslim. We Americans support Israel and the Jewish people. Obama does not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He wants them to go back to pre 67 borders which means Israel would not be able to defend herself. Israel was attack in 67 and Jerusalem belongs to the Jews. We defeated Mexico after the Alamo, and TX belongs to the states. Are we going to give TX , NM, AZ, and CA back because at one time they belonged to Mexico? I am sure Obama would say YES, to that.